Spaghetti Squash and Chicken Bake

Spaghetti squash is a staple in my kitchen and I can never get sick of it. The trick for me is to cook so that it easily threads but it is still crunchy. Mushy spaghetti squash is groady. This recipe is alllmooossttt paleo, if you skip the bread crumbs and cheese then it's paleo. But that crust is really what makes this dish a "bake".

Ingredients

1 spaghetti squash
400 g ground lean chicken breast
1 497 g can of diced tomatoes
1/2 large yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp dried basil
1 tsp dried parsley
2 tsp fresh ground pepper
1 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp tsp olive oil
2 tbsp fine bread crumbs
2 tbsp fresh grated Parmesan

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.
2. Cut your spaghetti squash in half. Scoop out seeds and guts.
3. Place squash halves, cut side facing up, in a large Pyrex with an inch of water in it.
4. Bake for about 20 minutes. Test the squash by poking the flesh with a fork and seeing if it will thread easily.
5. While your squash is baking, make the sauce. Cook the diced onion in olive oil until slightly soft. Add your ground chicken, salt, pepper and garlic. Cook on medium heat for about 15 minutes, breaking it up the entire time until no longer pink and browned all around.
6. When your squash is done, take out of the oven to cool.
7. Add the can of tomatoes to the chicken along with the oregano, basil and parsley. Add more salt and pepper if you think necessary. Simmer for about 20 minutes.
8. While the chicken and tomato sauce is simmering, with a fork, pull out the spaghetti squash flesh. Discard the empty squash shells. You will understand why it's called spaghetti squash.
9. Grease a Pyrex with olive oil and place the threaded spaghetti squash into the Pyrex. Once your sauce is done, pour evenly over the squash. Top with the bread crumbs first, then the layer of Parmesan.
10. Bake for about 10 minutes until the top is crispy :).
11. EAT!

note: if you have fresh herbs on hand like oregano or basil, it would be a lovely alternative to the dried herb version.

Again, you can tell that I took this photo due to is poor, oh so poor, quality.